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Shanna Averil
Shanna Averil is a Dekn singer-songwriter. She is one of two known Dekn with the power of persuasive speech. After falling under the spell of Marchosias Aversen, she ended up becoming the Acolyte of the Society of the Purple Rose for some time, before being rescued by her aunt, Moirah Averil. Shanna is the main protagonist in The Siren Saga storyline. She also has a personal Tumblr blog, shannathesiren. History Backstory Shanna was born in Nearaive, to Perivelis and Alkiviadis Averil. At birth, she was diagnosed with a degenerative genetic disease that would, according to most available medical science, kill her before her tenth birthday. As a result of this, most of her early childhood, until the age of seven, was consumed by experimental treatments and interventions designed to slow the progress of the disease ravaging her body. Desperate for a cure when nothing else seemed to be working, her parents turned to the only one who seemed to be able to help: Andras As'phyxiar. Andras, who had been trying for some time to find a cure for the disease, had hit on a solution: a serum synthesized from the heart of a healthy carrier. For Shanna to live, her mother, Perivelis, had to die. Peri went bravely to her death at Andras's hands, but Shanna, only a child, and already having gone through so much, cried and begged her not to leave. Out of anger at Shanna's perceived ingratitude, Andras punished her by putting her under the effects of the Fear Invocation, an act that had long-lasting effects on her mental state . Ersisbound For the rest of her time in the Lathrym, Shanna's father and brother, considerably in Andras's debt, were constantly tormented and toyed with by him, to the point that her father realized that the only way to protect the family from further harassment was to send her to Ersis against her will. While living in Ersis, Shanna was initially a lonely, directionless, starving artist sharing an apartment with two unnamed roommates (whom she seemed quite distant from). She felt unable to connect with most humans: a feeling that she described as "an invisible glass wall between me and most people." Due to her childhood trauma, she continued to suffer bouts of depression, paranoia, and anxiety. Staff of the Scholar This all changed when Shanna joined Tumblr. She befriended Franz Faust"You're Ersisbound too, aren't you?", shannathesiren., a half-Arkn boy with a hot temper and an encyclopedic knowledge of Lathrymite cultures. As she noticed Andras's propensity for psychologically tormenting Faust, Shanna began to reveal more of her own family's history with him. It was around this time, due to an unspecified incident, that Shanna discovered that she possessed hypnotic abilities (though her music was the only way that she had to channel and use them). The Siren's Saga After getting to know Franz Faust through Tumblr, Shanna was roped into his plan to infiltrate a U.M.E.E.C. base; Faust wanted her to enter the base using the identity of her aunt, Moirah, and abduct Marchosias Aversen. During this infiltration, she came face to face with Marchosias, who immediately saw through her disguise, realizing who she was and what she was capable of. To earn her trust, he dispelled the effects of what Andras did to her mind as a child, causing her to become confused as to where her loyalties lie. After that initial meeting, Shanna returned to her apartment, feeling both more at peace and even more unsure of herself than before. For several days, she seemed to be liveblogging her fight against the lingering influence of Marchosias's hypnosis, eventually succumbing to it and making a journey to Destrus to rescue Marchosias from his captivity and torture at the hands of Belial Casimir and the Scarred Marauders. After she rescued Marchosias from Belial, he named her as his Acolyte, and took her to his manor in an un-mapped subrealm known as Ariadne for "training." During this time, Shanna's blog was mostly controlled by Marchosias on her behalf. About two months into her "training," Shanna returned to the Elevrium beside Marchosias, and was introduced to her role as a Priestess within the Society of the Purple Rose. She met Laurien Adaire, a kind but impressionable Arkn mage recruited by Moirah to infiltrate the Society. Through her friendship with Laurien, Shanna became increasingly disillusioned with Marchosias and the Purple Rose, and ultimately ended up unsuccessfully using her power on Marchosias in an attempt to escape. After this escape attempt, Shanna was brought to the Glades of Altamir'zin (another subrealm controlled by Marchosias) for "re-education." Little is known about what exactly she underwent there, except that it was a form of conditioning inspired by earlier experiments conducted by Andras As'phyxiar. Shanna was rescued by her aunt after approximately two months in this facility."Moirah's Quest". References Category:Characters (Universe X) Category:Dekn (Universe X) Category:Protagonists Category:Females Category:Mentally-Ill Individuals